Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Chrysanthemumxc3x97morifolium cultivar Foxy Yopatricia.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum plant, botanically known as Chrysanthemumxc3x97morifolium, commercially known as a garden-type Chrysanthemum and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Foxy Yopatriciaxe2x80x99.
The new Chrysanthemum is a naturally-occurring whole plant mutation of the Chrysanthemum cultivar Yopatricia, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 11,907. The new Chrysanthemum was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within a population of plants of the cultivar Yopatricia in a controlled environment in DeMotte, Ind. in September, 2000. The selection of this plant was based on its unique ray floret coloration.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings taken in a controlled environment in Gainesville, Fla. since January, 2001, has shown that the unique features of this new Chrysanthemum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The cultivar Foxy Yopatricia has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, daylength and light intensity, without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Foxy Yopatriciaxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Foxy Yopatriciaxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Upright, somewhat outwardly spreading and mounded plant habit.
2. Freely branching habit; dense and full plants.
3. Uniform and freely flowering habit.
4. Decorative-type inflorescences.
5. Red-colored ray florets.
6. Natural season flowering in late September in the Northern Hemisphere.
Plants of the new Chrysanthemum are most similar to plants of the the cultivar Yopatricia. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Alva, Fla., plants of the new Chrysanthemum differed from plants of the cultivar Yopatricia in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum were smaller than plants of the cultivar Yopatricia.
2. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum flowered about two days later than plants of the cultivar Yopatricia.
Plants of the new Chrysanthemum can also be compared to plants of the Chrysanthemum cultivar Bravo, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 6,888. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Alva, Fla., plants of the new Chrysanthemum differed from plants of the cultivar Bravo in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum were shorter and more mounded than plants of the cultivar Bravo.
2. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum flowered about ten days later than plants of the cultivar Bravo.
3. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum had smaller inflorescences than plants of the cultivar Bravo.
4. Ray floret color of plants of the new Chrysanthemum did not fade as readily as ray floret color of plants of the cultivar Bravo.